Space burial refers to the launching of cremated remains into outer space. Missions may go into orbit around the Earth, on suborbital missions that briefly fly into space and return the ashes to Earth, to other planetary bodies (such as the Moon), or into deep space. The cremated remains are not actually scattered in space, and thus do not contribute to space debris. Instead, the ashes remain sealed inside their spacecraft until the spacecraft either: (A) re-enters the Earth's atmosphere and burns up upon re-entry (Earth orbit missions); (B) parachutes back to Earth for recovery (suborbital missions); or (C) reaches its final, extraterrestrial destination (e.g., the Moon). Only a sample is launched so as to make the service affordable.[1] Celestis, Inc.[2] and Elysium Space[3][4][5][6] offer space burial. As of March 2014, Celestis was offering the most affordable service worldwide with prices starting at US$995.00.[7]

The concept of launching remains into space using conventional rockets was proposed by the science fiction author Neil R. Jones in the novella "The Jameson Satellite," which was published in the pulp magazine "Amazing Stories" in 1931.[8] It was later proposed as a commercial service in the 1965 movie, "The Loved One,"[9] and by Richard DeGroot in a Seattle Times newspaper article on April 3, 1977.[10] Since 1997, the private company Celestis has conducted numerous space burials flying as secondary payloads.[1]

The first space burial occurred in 1992 when the NASA space shuttle Columbia (mission STS-52) carried a portion of Gene Roddenberry's cremated remains into space and returned them to Earth.[11]

The first private space burial, Celestis' Earthview 01: The Founders Flight, was launched on April 21, 1997. An aircraft, departing from the Canary Islands, carried a Pegasus rocket containing samples of the remains of 24 people to an altitude of 11 km (38,000 ft) above the Atlantic Ocean. The rocket then carried the remains into an elliptical orbit with an apogee of 578 km (359 mi) and a perigee of 551 km (342 mi), orbiting the Earth once every 96 minutes until reentry on May 20, 2002, northeast of Australia. Famous people on this flight included Gene Roddenberry and Timothy Leary.[12]

The next space burial was that of Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, a portion of whose cremated remains were flown to the Moon.[13] At the suggestion of colleague Carolyn Porco, Shoemaker's ashes were launched aboard the Lunar Prospector spacecraft on January 6, 1998 by a three-stage Athena rocket.[14] Celestis provided assistance for this mission.[15] The ashes were accompanied by a laser-engraved epitaph on a small piece of foil.[13] The spacecraft impacted the south polar region of the moon on July 31, 1999.[15]

In 2014, Celestis launched Celestis Pets, a pet memorial spaceflight service for animal cremated remains.[16] Prior to then, a Monroe, Washingtonpolice dog may have flown on a 2012 memorial spaceflight. When this news broke, Celestis' President said that if dog ashes were on the rocket, the person who supplied the cremated remains likely violated the contract they signed with Celestis.[17]

January 6, 1998 (NASA/Celestis mission): Sample of the remains of Eugene Shoemaker launched as secondary payload on a three-stage Athena rocket to the moon[15]

February 10, 1998 (Celestis mission): 30 remains samples as a secondary payload launched into Earth orbit on a Taurus rocket This mission is still on orbit, has an estimated orbital lifetime of 240 years, and can be tracked online.[18]

December 20, 1999 (Celestis mission): 36 remains samples as a secondary payload launched into Earth orbit on a Taurus rocket. This mission is still on orbit, has an estimated orbital lifetime of 240 years, and can be tracked online.[19]

September 21, 2001 (Celestis mission): 43 remains samples as a secondary payload failed to be launched into Earth orbit on a Taurus rocket.[20]

April 28, 2007 (Celestis mission): This was the first suborbital memorial spaceflight—a flight that carried cremated remains into space and returned them to Earth, without orbiting Earth. Launch occurred from Spaceport America on an UP AerospaceSpaceLoft XL rocket. The cremated remains samples of over 200 people were on board, including Mercury 7 astronaut L. Gordon Cooper and Star Trek actor James Doohan ("Scotty").[22]

August 2, 2008 (Celestis mission): Over 200 remains samples flown as a secondary payload on a Falcon 1 rocket. While the rocket flew into space, it did not achieve its goal of orbiting Earth.[23]

May 2, 2009 (Celestis mission): 16 remains samples successfully launched on a suborbital flight by UP Aerospace as a secondary payload from Spaceport America, New Mexico. Among those aboard was Ralph White, famous undersea explorer/cinematographer and, in 1985, co-discoverer of the wreckage of the RMS Titanic.[24]

May 4, 2010 (Celestis mission): Over 19 remains samples successfully launched by UP Aerospace as a secondary payload from Spaceport America, New Mexico.[25]

May 20, 2011 (Celestis mission): Over 8 remains samples successfully launched by UP Aerospace as a secondary payload from Spaceport America, New Mexico.[26]

May 22, 2012 (Celestis mission): Over 300 remains samples successfully launched as a secondary payload along with SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket.[27] The Celestis spacecraft re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on June 26, 2012.[28]

June 21, 2013 (Celestis mission): 31 remains samples successfully launched by UP Aerospace as a secondary payload from Spaceport America, New Mexico.[29]

October 23, 2014 (Celestis mission): 24 remains samples successfully launched by UP Aerospace as a secondary payload from Spaceport America, New Mexico.[30]

December 5, 2014 (NASA mission): 1 remains sample successfully launched by NASA on the Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The person honored by this special arrangement was a Lockheed Martin aeronautical engineer who worked on the Orion project for over a decade.[31]

Launched into outer space on a trajectory out of the solar system on January 19, 2006[edit]

Clyde Tombaugh (February 4, 1906 – January 17, 1997), American astronomer and discoverer of Pluto in 1930. A small sample of Tombaugh's ashes are aboard New Horizons, the first spacecraft to attempt to pass by and photograph Pluto. This is the first sample of human cremated remains which will escape the solar system to travel among the stars.[21]

Luise Clayborn Kaish (1925–2013), American sculptor and painter. A symbolic portion of her cremated remains are scheduled to be launched into space in 2015 on Celestis' Sunjammersolar sail mission.[42][44][46]